Trump’s defense chief says US bombings degraded Iran’s nuclear sites, citing AI models over leaked intel doubts
The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has defended the US strikes on Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities and said that Donald Trump had “decimated … obliterated” the country’s nuclear program despite initial intelligence assessments that last week’s strikes had failed to destroy key enrichment facilities and they could resume operations within just months.
But he and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Dan Caine, largely based that assessment on AI modeling, showing test videos of the bunker buster bombs used in the strikes and referred questions on a battle damage assessment of Fordow to the intelligence community.
Speaking from the Pentagon briefing room, Hegseth cast doubt on an initial assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency, noting it was “preliminary” and “leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful”.
Hegseth also said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that Iran’s 400kg stock of 60% enriched uranium could no longer be accounted for.
